Ghost and King Dude bring the beauty of darkness to Fonda Theatre

Last night, I went to church for the first time since I was a kid, albeit not the church I remembered. Swedish metal band, Ghost, transformed the Fonda Theater into the kind of church only Satan would love. From the demonically detailed stained-glass backdrop to the band of masked ghouls running around, the stage was set for the arrival of Papa Emeritus II, leader of Ghost. Papa Emeritus II commanded the attention of the packed Fonda and conducted the band through a dark and heavy set that had the crowd going crazy over. If you haven’t seen Ghost perform live, do yourself a favor and get to one of their shows NOW!

Opening act, King Dude, wasn’t what I expected for a Ghost show, but it was a very pleasant surprise. Singer/songwriter, T.J Cowgill had the audience captivated with his brand of folk­metal. Slow, dark, and melodic, the songs range from ballads about murder, to love songs about ghosts. Now that I think about it some more, King Dude was the PERFECT opener for Ghost.

King Dude’s new album, entitled Fear is out next week on Not Just Religious Music. The record was produced by the legendary Bill Rieflin (Ministry, Swans, Pigface, etc) and this week the album is streaming entirety via Pitchfork Advance. Stream it now!